Americans Question Whether Obama Can Still Get Things Done

Americans are losing faith in President Barack Obama's ability to get things done, even though most believe he is still committed to fighting for his policies, according to a Pew Research Center poll.

The poll of 1,054 adults taken May 1-5, shows that 49 percent of respondents believe the president is able to achieve his goals, but that figure is down from 57 percent in January.

Still, 67 percent of respondents said they believe Obama is continuing to fight hard for his agenda.

The poll also found that 80 percent of respondents do not believe that the president and Republicans in Congress are able to work together on issues critical to the nation, but twice as many people blame the GOP for that than blame Obama. Forty-two percent said it's the fault of Republicans that nothing is getting done, while 22 percent put the blame on the president. The gap between the two numbers on the question of who's to blame for the gridlock was the largest in a Pew survey since 2009.

But whether it will make any difference in the elections next year is still unclear. Pew reported that Republicans were also blamed more than Obama in the early part of 2010, but they still won back control of the House from Democrats later that year by picking up 63 seats.

Despite party divisions, however, the latest Pew survey suggested that Republicans came in about even with the Democrats on how they handle issues like the economy, immigration, and gun control. Republicans fared a bit better on dealing with the economy, edging ahead by a 42 percent to 38 percent margin.

On the question of party leadership, however, the survey responses were vastly different, with only 42 percent of Republicans expressing approval of the job their leaders are doing, while 60 percent of Democrats said they were happy with their leaders' job performances.